Sewing-machine ruffler.



E. J. BOYLER. SEWING MACHINE RUFFLER.

APPLICATION FILED JANAU. 1911.

1,011,907 Patented Dec.19,1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. y

EMANUEL J. BOYLER, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE GREISTMAN- UFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

SEWING-MACHINE RUFFIJER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1911.

Application iled January 10, 1911. Serial No.'601,905.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, EMANUEL J. BOYLER, a citizen of Canada, residing atNew Haven, in t-he county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, haveinvented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements inSewing-Machine Ruiilers, of which the following is a specifica-tion,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain improvements in that class of sewingmachine rufflers shown in Il. S. Patent No. 629,736, granted July 25,1899, and adapted to make a plait or gather at each stitch', or if it bedesired to make wider plaits, to form only a single plait while severalstitches are being made. This class of ruiilers is commercially known aslive-stitch rufliers, 1n that they are usually so constructed that whenthe wide plaits are being made they make one gather or plait for each vestitches of the sewing machine. As these five-stitch rufliers haveheretofore been made, in accordance with the patent just referred to, aratchet-wheel having deep and shallow notches, aording deep and shallowteeth, has been employed in coperation with an actuating pawl mounted onthe operating lever which receives its motion from the needle-bar of thesewing machine. When a rutile or gather is being made at eachreciprocation of the needle-bar, for each stitch formed by the sewingmachine, the actuating pawl is locked into one of the deep notches ofthe ratchet-wheel by means of a small eccentric mounted on the operatinglever, and which is turned into such position as to effect the lockingreferred to. When the actuating pawl is thus locked in a deep notch ofthe ratchet-wheel the pawl will be depressed far enough to engage ashoulder on a pendulous lever which is connected with the rufliing-bladecarrier; and when the pawl is in said locked position the ratchet wheel,instead of being intermittingly rotated by the pawl, will oscillate withthe pawl and operating lever. In such oscillation of the ratchet-wheel,which is engaged by a friction spring which will prevent it from movingexcept when positively engaged by its actuating pawl, more or less poweris expended, so that when the ruffler is adjusted 'to make a gather orplait at each reciprocation of the needle-bar, the attachment works witha certain objectionable stiffness, requiring the expenditure `of toomuch power, and the present invention has for its main object to avoidthis objection by virtue of a double pawl construction which will avoidthe oscillation of the ratchet wheel referred to, permitting saidratchet-wheel to remain stationary when single-stitch rufliing orgathering is being done. Also in the operation of rufllers constructedin accordance with the patent referred to, the change from single stitchto fivestitch or multiple-stitch ruiiling can only be effected when theratchet-wheel is in such position as to permit the actuating pawl tofall into one of the deep notches of said wheel; while in the presentimproved ruffler this change may be effected at any time, regardless ofthe position of the ratchetwheel relative to its pawl. Also in theoperation of ruiiiers made in accordance with the patentabove referredto, the operative, in makingV the change from single-stitch tofive-stitch ruifling, sometimes turns'the eccentric adjust-ing device sotightly aga-inst the pawl that the latter is firmly locked in a notch insuch position that the point of the pawl will not be in engagement withthe abrupt or radial shoulder of the notch; and in such adjustment ofthe pawl an objectionably long or false stroke of the ruifling bladewill be effectechthus resulting in more or less imperfect work. Thisobjection is also avoided by the present invention in that there is nopositive locking engagement between the pawl and ratchet-wheel, whenfive-stitch ruflling is being eected; the engagement of the pawl withthe ratchet wheel in the improved ruflier being a springpressed oryielding one.

In the accompanying drawings Figures 1 and@ are opposite side views of aruffler embodying the present invention. 'Fig 3 is a rear view of thesame, and Fig. 11 is a sectional view on line H, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is adetail view of the pawls and operating lever, Figs. 6 and 7 are detailviews of the pawls, and Fig. 8 a detail view of the eccentric rivet.Fig. 9 is a detail view of the ratchetwheel.

Referring to the drawings, 12 denotes the body of the frame of theruifler, and which frame is preferably provided with an integralattaching portion or shank 18 by which it may be secured to thepresser-bar of a sewing-machine in substitution of an ordinarypresser-foot. The forked operating lever 14 is pivotally mounted on astud 15 riveted to an upright portion of the frame 12. Also pivotallymounted on the said stud are an oscillating plate 16, a ratchet-wheel 17and a pendulous or secondary lever 18, the latter being jointed at itslower end to the carrier 19 of the rutHing blade 20. The oscillatingplate 16 is provided with a proj ection 21 engaged by an adjustableregulating screw 22 mounted on the operating lever 14, said oscillatingplate having a projection or shoulder 23 adapted to engage a front upperportion of the said pendulous lever for effecting the backward orretractive movements of said lever and of the rutliing blade connectedtherewith. The regulating screw 22 permits, according to its position ofadjustment, of more or less lost motion between the operating lever 14and the oscillating plate 16, so that any desired length of stroke maybe imparted to the ruttling blade from said operating lever. Thependulous lever 18 is provided at its top with a shoulder 24 and theratchet-wheel is provided with two relatively deep notches 25 betweeneach of which, in the form of the invention herein shown, are fourrelatively shallow notches 26.

Pivotally mounted on the operating lever 14 is a spring-pressed pawl 27,which is arranged in the plane of the pendulous lever 18, so that it mayengage the shoulder 24 thereof at times; and adj ustably mounted on thesaid spring-pressed pawl 27 is a supplemental pawl 28 which is arrangedin the plane of the ratchet-wheel 17 and which is connected with thepawl 27 by a rivet 29 mounted on the pawl 27 in such a manner that itmay be turned. Said rivet 29 is provided with an eccentric portionengaging the supplemental pawl 28 so that by partially rotating saidrivet by means of a screw driver, inserted in a nick in the facethereof, the said pawls may be so adjusted that their points are inregister with each other, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, or may be so adjusted that their points are considerably separated from each other, asshown in Figs. 2 and Then the said pawls are so adjusted that theirpoints are thus separated from or out of register with each other, thepawl 27 may engage the shoulder 24 on the pendulous lever 18, while thepawl 28 will be lifted so that it will be clear of the ratchetwheel 17.Then the pawls are adjusted as just stated a ruflling stroke will beimparted to the ruiiling blade 20 at each reciprocation of the operatinglever 14, to make singlestitch ruftling, and in such operation of theruifler the ratchet wheel 17 will remain stationary, being held thus byits retaining friction spring 30.

Then it is desired to make relatively wide plaits or gathers, ormultiple-stitch rufi'ling,

the eccentric rivet 29 will be so turned as to cause the pawl 28 to beyieldingly engaged with the walls of the notches of the ratchetwheel,for the purpose of intermittingly rotating the same. Them however, thesaid pawl 28 is in engagement with the shallower notches 26 of theratchet wheel. the pawl 27, owing to its rigid connection with the pawl28, will be held lifted above the shoulder 24 on the pendulous lever 18,so that no motion will be imparted to said lever excepting when the pawl28 falls into one of the deeper notches 25 of the said ratchet wheel;and at such times the pawl 27 will engage the said shoulder 24 of thesaid pendulous lever to cause a forward movement to be imparted to theruilling blade, for the purpose of forming a relatively wide plait orgather, or to form a plait or gat-her at each five stitches formed bythe sewing machine.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present invention avoidsany turning of the ratchet-wheel during the times when the rutlles orgathers are being made at each stitch, and thus enables the ruttler tobe operated more freely, or with less power, than would be the case ifthe ratchet-wheel were to be oscillated at each stitch against thestress of its friction spring 30. It will also be apparent that, as thepawl 28 has no positive locking engagement with the ratchet wheel at anytime, the strokes imparted to the ruftling blade, in making live-stitchor nniltiple-rutliing, will always be even and uniform; while the novelconstruction permits the adjust-ment from single-stitch rutl'ling tofive-stitch ruitling to be effected at any time, regardless of therelative positions of the pawls and the deeper notches of the ratchetwheel. The movements of the pawl 27 relative to the lever 14 are limitedby a pin 31 on the said lever, and which pin is received in a slot 32 inthe said pawl.

Having thus described my invention I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent:

1. 1n a sewing machine ruffler, the combination with an operating lever,of two pawls mounted thereon beside each other, a secondary leverprovided with a shoulder, an adjustable connection between saidoperating lever and said secondary lever, a rutlling blade operativelyconnected with said secondary lever, a ratchet-wheel having deep andshallow notches, and adjusting means whereby the point of one of saidpawls may be caused to engage said shoulder while the point of the otheris out of engagement with said ratchet-wheel, or whereby said pawls maybe so adjusted that one will engage said shoulder only when the other isin engagement with the said deep notches of said ratchet-wheel.

2. In ak sewing machine ruifler, the combination with an operatinglever, of a springpressed pawl pivotally mounted thereon, a supplementalpawl arranged beside and adjustably connected with the said first-namedpawl, an oscillating disk, a pendulous lever provided with a shoulder, arutHing blade operatively connected wit-h said pendulous lever, aratchet-wheel having deep and shallow notches, and adjusting meanswhereby the points of said pawls may be caused to be either in or out ofregister with each other, for the purpose of forming single-stitch ormultiple-stitch rutliing.

3. In a sewing machine ruiiier, the combination with an operating lever,of a springpressed pawl pivotally mounted thereon, a supplemental pawlarranged beside and ad justably but rigidly connected with saidiirstnamed pawl, an oscillating disk, a pendulous lever provided with ashoulder, a ruiiling blade connected with said pendulous lever, aratchet-wheel having deepand shallow notches, and adjusting meanswhereby the points of said pawls may be caused to be either in or out ofregister with each other for the purpose of forming single-stitch ormultiple-stitch rufiiing.

4. In a sewing machine ruffler, the combinat-ion with an operatinglever, of a springpressed pawl pivotally mounted thereon, a supplementalpawl arranged beside and adjustably connected with the said first-namedpawl, an oscillating disk, a pendulous lever provided with a shoulder, arufling blade operatively connected with said pendulous lever, aratchet-wheel having deep and shallow notches, and a rotatable eccentricdevice mounted on one of said pawls, whereby the points of said pawlsmay be caused to be either in or out of register with each other, forthe purpose of forming single-stitch or multiple-stitch rutliing.

In testimony whereof I atliX my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

EMANUEL J. BOYLER.

Witnesses P. R. GRnrs'r, H. M. GREIsT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

